The Pastaza Ecological Sustainable Use Area – about the size of
the state of Maryland – Holds world records for its wide array of plant
and animal species

March 13, 2017 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

PUYO, Pastaza, Ecuador & DEL MAR, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Culminating three years of collaboration by provincial and local
governments, indigenous communities and Nature
and Culture International (NCI), the Provincial Council of Pastaza,
Ecuador, established the 6.3-million-acre (2.5 million hectare) Pastaza
Ecological Sustainable Use Area on Feb. 24. This vast area is larger
than the state of Maryland and considered by scientists to be one of the
most biodiverse areas on Earth.

“The creation of the Pastaza Sustainable Use Area is a visionary
declaration and a true gift to the Earth”

Antonio Kubes, prefect of Pastaza Province, who has been a key proponent
for the creation of the protected area, noted that the creation of this
reserve will underpin the sustainable development of the region,
providing benefits to the local population, while protecting a global
resource.

Renzo Paladines, director of NCI Ecuador, said, “The creation of the
Pastaza reserve is a global example of what local and provincial
governments working together with indigenous communities can do to
protect vital natural resources while ensuring their own long-term
sustainable development and livelihoods.”

The newly declared Pastaza reserve, coupled with the neighboring
2.5-million-acre Yasuní National Park, will protect an immense swath of
eastern Ecuador’s lowland Amazon rainforest. The area provides essential
habitat to a wide range of mammals, amphibians, reptiles and flora.

Scientists have documented that this area of the Ecuadorian Amazon holds
world records for a wide array of plant and animal groups, from
amphibians to trees to insects. A single hectare (2.47 acres) in the
region may contain more tree species than are native to the continental
United States and Canada combined, according to a 2010 Texas State
University study. Another study shows that amphibians, birds, mammals
and vascular plants all reach near maximum diversity in this region, and
the threatened giant otter can be found here along with jaguars and
tapirs.

The area is also very culturally diverse, and the establishment of the
Pastaza Sustainable Use Area will protect the lands of several
indigenous nationalities that reside in the area including the Shuar,
Achuar, Kichwa, Zápara, Andoa, Shiwiar and Waorani.

The process to declare the Pastaza Sustainable Use Area began three
years ago and included extensive consultation processes with municipal
governments, indigenous nations and communities residing in the area.
NCI served as a technical advisor to the Pastaza government, working in
concert with stakeholders to develop baseline data, define reserve
boundaries, and provide information needed for establishment of the
area. Watershed reserves for three of Pastaza’s largest towns have been
incorporated into the core conservation zone of the Pastaza Area.

“The creation of the Pastaza Sustainable Use Area is a visionary
declaration and a true gift to the Earth,” said Byron Swift, president
of NCI. “NCI is proud to be a part of this process, and we look forward
to working with the provincial and municipal governments and indigenous
nations to protect this area for generations to come.”

About Nature and Culture International

Founded in 1997, Nature and Culture International (NCI) conserves
biological and cultural diversity in some of the world’s most diverse
ecosystems, primarily in the Andes and Amazon of South America. Over the
last 20 years, NCI has helped local governments and communities protect
13 million acres and designate an additional 6.4 million acres as UN
Biosphere Reserves. natureandculture.org